Judicial Watch Obtains NLRB Documents Through Lawsuit

If there was any question that the Obama administration's National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is really acting against Boeing in South Carolina based on principle, it's been answered by some startlingly candid and flippant insider e-mails obtained by Judicial Watch.

Judicial Watch calls itself "a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation" whose motto is, "Because no one is above the law." The group uses lawsuits, remedies available under the Freedom of Information Act, and training and legal services provided to others to achieve openness and accountability in government. In this case, the group used both a FOIA request and a lawsuit to find out what members and staffers inside the NLRB were saying about the controversial Boeing matter.

Boeing had planned to open its second Dreamliner plant in South Carolina in July of this year. The NLRB intervened, claiming the company was opening the new plant in a right-to-work state in retaliation against members of The International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM) for their past strike activity in the Seattle area. The claim came despite the fact that no union jobs were being transferred from Washington state, and Boeing noted that the new jobs in South Carolina didn't even violate terms of its union contract with the IAM, let alone federal law.

Judicial Watch has published internal communications among the labor board and its attorneys that demonstrate that the internal conversation has been as much about politics as about the law. When Boeing filed suit against the board for its unprecedented usurpation of power, an article in The Economist supported the company. Miriam Szapiro, an NLRB attorney, noted in an April 28 e-mail to another board attorney, Debra Willen, "it just shows you how incredibly reactionary the US is, that the conservative Economist thinks we're Neanderthal."

Other e-mails include a political cartoon mocking the state of South Carolina, and the nicknaming of its Senator James DeMint as "dement." One, dated April 22, was sent from Acting NLRB General Counsel Lafe Soloman to outgoing Chairwoman Wilma Liebman following a French article predicting a "devastating potential economic impact" if the board was successful against Boeing. Soloman joked, "The article gave me a new idea. You go to Geneva and I get a job with Airbus. We screwed up the US economy and now we can tackle Europe."

NLRB Associate General Counsel Barry Kearney was openly rooting for the IAM when the union announced the complaint against Boeing, saying, "Hooray for the red, white and blue" in a May 5 e-mail. Regarding an article in The Hill about a House request to the board for documents related to the suit, NLRB Regional Director Richard Ahearn informed NLRB Regional Hearing Officer Peter Finch, "We will politely decline." Judicial Watch notes Ahearn was the one who signed the NLRB complaint against Boeing.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton observes, "The NLRB is supposed to be a neutral arbiter of labor disputes, not a cheerleader for unions. These documents confirm that the Obama NLRB is abusing its power on behalf of a powerful union to attack a major US corporation. No wonder Judicial Watch had to sue the Obama administration to obtain these records."

FMI: Details from Judicial Watch